The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday said it would from 2014 give females 50 per cent representation on its board and at management levels.

The Governor, CBN, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, who disclosed this, said the move was part of plans to ensure equitable and fair gender representation on the bank’s board.

He made the disclosure at the inauguration of the Gender in Nigeria Report 2012 in Abuja.

“Under the ongoing agenda, the intention is to increase the number of women at the directorate level from six to nine by 2012, and also to increase their representation on the board up from the present one to six or 50 per cent by 2014,” Sanusi said.

He lamented the gender inequality in all spheres of national life, particularly at the political and economic arenas, describing the development as being “undesirable for national development.”

Sanusi called for urgent improvements in women representation at the highest levels in order to address the lingering socio-economic problems associated with prolonged exclusion of women.

He said the bank was discussing with the Deposit Money Banks on the possibility of designing new products and services that would enable women to access healthcare and other social services through e-wallet platforms.

This, he noted, would enhance the banks’ drive for improved financial inclusion of women in the country.

He said, “The shock is that in the 50 years of the existence of the bank before I became governor, only four women had risen to the position of director.

“Now, this is supposed to be the regulator of the financial system. So, one of the things we had to do was to say if you don’t have women in the decision making processes of the bank, how do you factor in gender issues in your developmental interventions?”

Sanusi said one of the decisions taken was to change the diversity and the complexion of the management of the CBN as well as of the banks.

Source: Punch/Ifeanyi Onuba